It was a bounce back game for the Texas Stars as they were able to defeat the Chicago Wolves Friday night after suffering a nasty 4-1 defeat against Chicago Wednesday night. The key to the Stars’ victory tonight was a four goal first period including two goals by Alex Chiasson.

First Period

The Stars opened the scoring just 2:47 into the opening frame as Alex Chiasson stuffed home a rebound off a Mike Hedden shot to give the Stars a quick 1-0 lead. Just 12 seconds later Austin Smith scored his first career AHL goal and gave the Stars a 2-0 lead just under three minutes into the game. At the 10:32 mark of the first Alex Chiasson struck again and made it a highlight reel worthy goal as he stepped around Chicago’s Andrew Gordon and sniped the puck right past the glove of Chicago goalie Matt Climie giving the Stars a 3-0 lead. Then at the 13:57 mark of the first Toby Petersen finished the Stars first period onslaught with his third goal of the season. That ended the night for Chicago goalie Matt Climie as he was pulled in favor of Joe Cannata. The Wolves then showed signs of life as Andrew Gordon scored on the power play shortly after Cannata entered and the first period ended with the score 4-1 Stars

Second Period

The Wolves carried the momentum from the end of the first period into the second period. Michael Davies tipped a puck past Jack Campbell making the game 4-2 Stars. Mike Hedden struck back with a power play goal 12:41 into the second gave the Stars a 5-2 lead with his second goal of the season. At 16:52 Chicago captain Darren Haydar scored and the second period ended with the Stars ahead 5-3.

Third Period

The third period became gritty as more of a checking game developed between the two teams. At 3:06 into the third period Taylor Vause put on a one man forecheck against the Wolves and then netted a wrap around and gave the Stars a 6-3 lead. Darren Haydar would score again at 9:34 into the third period and made the game 6-4 with a little over half the third period left to play. Chicago made offensive pushes but Jack Campbell and the Stars shut the door to secure a 6-4 win.

Game Extras

• Jamie Oleksiak had three assists on the night, in his first game since being sent down from the Dallas Stars, pushing his season point total to 20 (3g, 17a)
• Mike Hedden scored the game winner tonight which means Chicago goalie Joe Cannata took the loss tonight
• Chicago Wolves’ captain Darren Haydar was involved in all four goals for his team tonight as he had two assists along with his two goals.
• Richard Bachman was the backup for the Texas Stars tonight as he was sent down to get some playing time and Christopher Nilstorp will serve as back up in the NHL with the Dallas Stars
• The Texas Stars suffered their first lost in 2013 Wednesday night. Friday’s victory pushes their record to 7-1-0-0 in 2013
• Three Stars of the Game: 1. Alex Chiasson 2. Darren Haydar 3. Jamie Oleksiak

Benn and Ryder Giggling (Photo: Melissa Grissom)

An NHL lockout has not only knocked out the Dallas Stars but also made them lose the month of game for October and November.  A total of 22 games have been lost so far and many fans are wondering if they are going to see their big brightest stars play in Big D. Many fans wanted to see Jamie Benn grow into the player he was last year and see if Michael Ryder can live up to the expectations of his career high season last year. Many fans wanted to see Jaromir Jagr do his salute for the fans after he scores a goal while others wanted to see that Ray Whitney do his famous “Where’s Whitney” interviews. They also wanted to see if this team, their Stars, try and make the playoffs for the first time since 2008 when they had their magical run to the Western Conference. Their  journey was then ended by the Detroit Red Wings as they lost their series 4 games 2. After that they saw their team not make the playoffs. I know that fans are mad that the NHL season is currently locking out their favorite teams but there are other opportunities to see your players.

» Continue reading “Stars And The NHL Lockout”

Texas Stars victory (Photo credit to Stephanie Robinson)

 

TEXAS STARS GOAL!! Jamie Oleksiak with a filthy wrister past Smith’s right side! Stars now up 2-0! #TxStars

— Texas Stars Hockey (@TexasStars) October 25, 2012

Jamie Oleksiak netted his first professional goal in last nights 3-1 win for the Texas Stars over the Milwaukee Admirals.

The Stars started fast and dominated the first period of action at Cedar Park Center, out-shooting their opponents by 12-5. They took a deserved lead to the dressing rooms as Travis Morin scored on the power play from a nice Francis Wathier feed. Jordie Benn grabbed the further assist.

Despite the second period being a goalless one, it was still a decent one to watch. There was a lot of physicality on show as well as several great saves from Stars goaltender Jack Campbell who stood strong to keep his teams lead.

Texas would have been desperate to get a second goal to double their lead, and they did that through Jamie Oleksiak. Oleksiak, who was drafted by the Dallas Stars in 2011, received a nice drop pass from Cody Eakin before firing a wrist shot past Jeremy Smith.

Milwaukee managed to get on the scoreboard to set up a tense last five minutes. Mark Van Guilder cleverly tipped in a shot from the point to take the score to 2-1. The Admirals pulled their goalie in a last ditch effort to grab an equalizer but the Stars managed to score in the empty net and win the game by three goals to one.

It was a promising performance for the Texas Stars. Jack Campbell looked impressive and stopped 23 of 24 shots. Jamie Oleksiak scoring his first professional goal will certainly boost his confidence and hopefully set him up for a decent campaign.

With the victory the Stars improve to a record of 3-3-0. On Sunday they travel to Oklahoma to face the Barons.

Texas Stars ice (Photo: sweetsophonic/flickr)

It seemed almost too good to be true. The Texas Stars started the preseason and first two games of the regular season with a fire that was not seen last year. This past weekend, the Stars lost their 3 in 3. Twice to Houston and last night to Lake Erie with a shutout. It was not just the losses that were disappointing, but the way in which they lost those games. Too much flash and nothing to show for it. Bad passes and too many turnovers. They were not able to convert any power play opportunities into goals, though given plenty of chances. The performance last night was completely uninspiring.

Willie Desjardins ran with 11 forwards and 7 defense men this past weekend. Jordie Benn played more of a forward position, but looked lost out there. There were too many mistakes made by defense that left Cristopher Nihlstorp high and dry. Once down three goals, he was replaced by Jack Campbell. Saturday night’s game against Houston the roles were reversed, Nilhstorp coming into to relieve a floundering Campbell.

Now before we fall into a downward spiral of negativity about this team, the season is still young. We are just five games into the regular season. Three losses does not a season make. I still have hope for this young team and the direction Desjardins is leading them.

It seemed as though Mathieu Tousignant would be in the lineup last night as he was dressed for warm-ups but was announced as a scratch. There is still an air of mystery surrounding Scott Glennie, as he has been a healthy scratch for five games now and Desjardins has been elusive as to the reason why. Desjardins did indicate that Glennie might be in the lineup in the next couple games or so.

Jordie Benn, one of the 26 assigned to the Texas Stars (Photo taken by Melissa Grissom)

Today, the Dallas Stars have sent 26 players to the Texas Stars and the rest to their junior teams as as the NHL looks like it will be heading into a lockout. I was hoping for no lockout but looks like we are heading into one. Here is more info about the Stars assiging players to the minors from the Dallas Morning News:

Again, these moves would have normally been made during training camp, but they need to be done before the current CBA expires on Sept. 15.

Here is the press release.

DALLAS STARS MAKE ROSTER MOVES

Frisco, TX – The Dallas Stars announced today that 26 players have been assigned to the Texas Stars, Dallas’ affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). The club also announced that five players have been assigned to their respective Junior club teams.

The following players have been assigned to Texas (AHL):

Jordie Benn

Tyler Beskorowany

Jack Campbell

Alex Chiasson

Jace Coyle

Brenden Dillon

Cody Eakin

Maxime Fortunus

Matt Fraser

Luke Gazdic

Scott Glennie

Tristan King

Hubert Labrie

Travis Morin

Cristopher Nilstorp

Patrik Nemeth

Jamie Oleksiak

Toby Petersen

Antoine Roussell

Colton Sceviour

Tyler Sloan

Austin Smith

Reilly Smith

Mathieu Tousignant

Tomas Vincour

Francis Wathier

The following players have been assigned to their respective Junior teams:

Radek Faksa (Kitchener – OHL)

Maxime Lagace (PEI – QMJHL))

Brett Ritchie (Niagara – OHL)

Matej Stransky (Saskatoon – WHL)

Troy Vance (Victoriaville – QMJHL)

Hopefully the NHL can come up with a deal and save the season for us the fans but for right now looks like Stars fans can see their favorite prospects in the juniors and the Texas Stars.

(Photo taken by Melissa Grissom)

With the threat of an NHL lockout looming on the horizon, many AHL fans have wondered how a lockout may affect our league and teams. The current CBA is set to expire on September 15^th. The clock is ticking away and it seems that little progress has been made between the NHL and the NHLPA.

The Texas Stars’ first season was nearly five years after the last lockout. While this situation may not be new for the hockey faithful, many fans at Cedar Park may not be prepared on how this lockout may affect our team. You can be certain that attendance and coverage will increase vastly. More eyes will be on our developing players more than ever. While a lot of AHL fans would be delighted to see high level players in their arena, the concern is that the NHL players may push the younger players out of a job. This would be detrimental to the development of players such as Jack Campbell, Matt Fraser, Alex Chiasson, etc. There is no certainty or guarantee right now and AHL fans should be concerned about what is going on with the big wigs at the NHL.

I do not foresee the majority of players to head immediately to the AHL if there is a lockout. I imagine that a lot of players, like Jaromir Jagr, will head to Europe in order to get ice time. Much of what has been said so far is pure speculation, but time is running out.

Richard Bachman taking a break (Photo taken by me)

Yesterday the Dallas Stars organization announced the signing of Max Lagace to a entry-level contract, Lagace was an invitee to Dallas Stars development camp. He spent last season in the QMJHL with the Prince Edward Island Rocket.

Official Press Release from the Stars yesterday:

Frisco, TX – The Dallas Stars announced today that the NHL club has signed goaltender Max Lagace to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Lagace, 19, played 56 games last season for the Prince Edward Island Rocket in the Quebec Major-Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), where he posted a 12-34-5 record with a 4.51 goals-against-average (GAA) and a .867 save percentage (SV%).The 6-foot-2, 168-pound goaltender finished 2011-12 ranked sixth in minutes played (2,911:58), fourth in saves (1,422) and fourth in shots against (1,641) among all QMJHL goaltenders.

 

Earlier this year, the native of Longueuil, Quebec was selected as one of three goaltenders who will represent Hockey Canada in the Canada-Russia Challenge this August, an event that is replacing Canada’s Junior Team summer development camp. Lagace also participated in Dallas’ Development Camp earlier this summer.

Lagace had a very impressive rookie camp and caught the eye of coaches running the camp and General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk. This signing brings the Dallas Stars Organization goaltender depth to eight goalies and seven of them already signed to contracts.

Lagace numbers are not impressive by any means, but the PEI Rockets had the worst regular season in the teams history since relocating to PEI from Montreal before the 2003-2004 season began with a record of 19-43-6. The QMJHL is also not the most successful place for goalies. In 68 regular season games Lagace had the decision in 61 of them, which means he can be a work horse for a team which is common for a lot of the goalies in the Stars organizations.

Let’s take a look at the Stars and their minor league affiliates to see how this goalie depth is panned out.

» Continue reading “Dallas Stars Goalie Depth Gets Deeper”

So this week the Dallas Stars wrapped up their Development for their young prospects and newly acquired draft picks, this young group of prospects were very impressive and big, and when I say big I mean everywhere from forwards to goalies, Dallas certainly has made drafting players with size a big part of their future. To wrap up after all the videos and articles I have read about camp, I am going to list the ten prospects I believe had the best camps.

10. Radek Faksa – Center – Kitchner Rangers

I certainly saw what a bunch of other scouts from Dallas saw in him when they took him 13th overall with this seasons first round draft pick, but he was definitely a bit raw and it would suit him better if he spent this season in the OHL with the Kitchner Rangers instead of burning a year of his Entry-Level Contract trying to fill a spot left by Derek Roy while he recovers from shoulder surgery.

9. Scott Glennie – Center/Left Wing – Texas Stars

The first round draft choice of the Dallas Stars in the 2009 draft has certainly had big knocks against him with labels of being a bust or a waste of a draft pick, but certainly has worked hard to improve, this development camp he certainly looked a lot more confident with the puck and could was a lot better at decision making. When training camp arrives expect Glennie to be competing with Cody Eakin and Tom Wandell for the shot to fill in Derek Roy’s spot on the second line regular ice time in the NHL.

8. Austin Smith – Right Wing – Texas Stars

Recently graduated from Colgate University the Dallas, Texas native drew much attention last season in the running to become the winner of the Hobey Baker award given to the overall best player collegiate hockey player in the nation, taking his talents to Austin this season with the Texas Stars Austin can show his great play that sets up many teammates and a shot that goalies respect.

7. Reilly Smith – Left Wing – Texas Stars

Also drew attention as a finalist for the Hobey Baker award Reilly Smith got a taste of the NHL last season and will be looking to make it back this season, in camp it certainly looked like he knew how to find the net and get in scoring position, certainly with Austin they can put on a show this season with the Texas Stars.

6. Alex Chiasson – Right Wing – Texas Stars

The big Boston University product saw his college career close and his professional career begin with the Texas Stars last season, he will be a big problem for defenseman to handle in front of the net, and literally big at 6’4 200+ pounds. Coming from the college level he will certainly have to work on his physical play and continue to work at becoming a complete player.

» Continue reading “Dallas Stars Prospects: Wrapping up Development Camp”

Stars Defense (Photo Taken By Melissa Grissom)

In free agency the Dallas Stars didn’t make as many headlines in defense as compared to the forward group with the signings of the rugged veteran defenseman Aaron Rome and big Tyler Sloan, who will provide the veteran leadership in Austin with the Texas Stars, but the big moves in Dallas defensive and goalie groups are happening within the organization itself, it’s been awhile but the Dallas Stars cupboard is just packed with young prospects, and not just any but scouts have them reaching the NHL at some point in the near future, but for now let us look at the NHL team.  With the departures of Adam Pardy and Sheldon Souray and the addition of Aaron Rome the Dallas Stars defense for the part will look the same as it did last season with a few changes, but let’s look at the pairs and see how things might work out:

(note: I completely put these lines together how I would have done it, please feel free to disagree with me and make suggestions)

1st Pair: Larsen-Goligoski

Alex Goligoski led the Dallas blueline in points for a second straight season, “The Goose” has continued to log lots of ice time ever since the Dallas Stars acquired him in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins back in 2011 and the defense is completely not the same with him out of the lineup. A lot can be said for Philip Larsen, in the 2011-2012 season he proved he was NHL ready and was very impressive as it seemed he just developed right before everybody’s eyes each game, but this year can he take it up a notch as certainly now he has drawn the competitions eye and they will be going for him.

2nd Pair: Daley-Dillon

Joe Nieuwendyk had a lot to say about young Brenden Dillon, and if his play with the Texas Stars last season and what he showed in his NHL debut in game 82 against the St. Louis Blues then he is as NHL ready as they come and who better to mentor him as a partner than the longest tenured Dallas defenseman in Trevor Daley. Daley certainly isn’t what everyone wants him to be, but the thing he is that is a fact is consistent and will show Dillon the NHL ropes real well as he still has a lot to learn

3rd Pair: Fistric/Rome- Robidas

The third pair will consist of the never quit warrior in Stephane Robidas and the competition of physical stay at home defenseman between Aaron Rome and Mark Fistric any combination of these three will be able to punish opposing players with big hits and solid stay at home defense.

» Continue reading “Dallas Stars Lineups: Defense and Goalies”

Many of us fanatics eagerly wait in anticipation of any juicy hockey morsel that comes our way during the off-season. This past week delivered a couple new signings in the Stars organization, much to the delight of fans. The arrival of Jack Campbell aside, this past season for the Texas Stars was lacking in the goalie department. Although Richard Bachman rose to the challenge of playing backup for Kari Lehtonen in the NHL, admittedly his season did not start off with a bang in Cedar Park. Tyler Beskorowany also had a less than stellar performance this year, though it didn’t help his case that the blue liners left him high and dry numerous times.

The Dallas Stars announced this week that they were signing Swedish goaltender Cristopher Nihlstorp to a two way contract. In addition, the Texas Stars also announced that they were signing goalie Josh Robinson to an AHL two way deal. With these signings, we now have Lehtonen, Bachs, Besko, Campbell, Nihlstorp, and Robinson. Six goaltenders. According to an interview Hundred Degree Hockey had with Texas’ GM Scott White, he expects that Robinson would be placed with an ECHL team (Source: Hundred Degree Hockey). It will be interesting to see what develops with the other five goalies before the season starts and where they will go, especially within the minor leagues.